Kelly and Jones put pressure on Championship Leader Youlden
2/7/2004 19:13 (Press Release) -
Team Fujitsu’s Owen Kelly has finished today’s qualifying session with the fastest lap time of the day, leaving his run for top spot late in the 20 minute session to knock off experienced V8 Supercar driver Cameron McLean and Andrew Jones.
Kelly will sit on the front row of the grid for the first of three races tomorrow in what is the fifth round of the 2004 Konica Minolta V8 Supercar Series at Queensland Raceway this weekend.
McLean and Jones battled for pole position throughout the final qualifying session, exchanging fastest lap times until Kelly came through on his final lap with a record time of 1.11.1036.
For the first time this year Smiths Trucks driver Lee Holdsworth finished in the top five, eventually ending the day fourth fastest ahead of 2003 series runner-up Matthew White in his Gulf Western Ford Falcon.
Holdsworth, who won the full reverse grid race at the last Konica Minolta round at Eastern Creek, showed his car has consistent pace with top five placing’s in both practice sessions this morning.
“The car has had really good pace so far and we are all really happy with the result today,” Holdsworth said. “The car has been really consistent and hopefully it will stay like that for the entire weekend. We will be aiming for a top five in every race and if we can accomplish that then we will be over the moon.”
Another young up-and-coming driver who missed out on his first top five qualifying time this year by the smallest of margins was Independent Race Cars driver Tony D’Alberto who will sit on the third row in tomorrow’s first of three races with the sixth fastest lap time.
D’Alberto will be looking for another strong performance this weekend to capitalise on his top ten position on the points table.
Current 2004 Konica Minolta V8 Supercar Series leader Super Cheap Auto’s Luke Youlden hasn’t started the weekend as well as his fellow competitors, as his Ford Falcon speared off the track in the first practice session which then resulted in a red flag period for that session.
Youlden eventually finished the day in eighth position and will be hoping for a better result for the remainder of the weekend to secure his position at the top of the points table, although some of the other championship contenders are thinking otherwise.
“Youlden has got a good lead but has had a shocking weekend so far,” current pole sitter Kelly said. “Hopefully for our sake it will stay that way for the rest of the weekend. I think perhaps he may be due for some bad luck since he has had such a good run so far this year.”
Experience the excitement of the Konica Minolta V8 Supercar Series as it joins its ‘big brother’ – the V8 Supercar Championship Series at Queensland Raceway this weekend with the first race commencing at 12.10pm, the second at 3.15pm and the third and final race on Sunday starting at 11.15am.
Qualifying Top Ten
1. #71 Owen Kelly Team Fujitsu 1.11.1036
2. #27 Cameron McLean Howard Racing 1.11.1556
3. #19 Andrew Jones Team BOC 1.11.1643
4. #72 Lee Holdsworth Smiths Trucks 1.11.4424
5. #28 Matthew White Gulf Western 1.11.4784
6. #64 Tony D’Alberto Independent Race Cars 1.11.5021
7. #111 Mark Porter Hydraulink Racing 1.11.6236
8. #30 Luke Youlden Super Cheap Auto Racing 1.11.7087
9. #68 Alex Yoong Shane Beikoff Racing 1.11.7477
10. #81 Jose Fernandez Team Fujitsu 1.11.7884
Practice Two Top Ten
1. #19 Andrew Jones Team BOC 1.11.6357
2. #72 Lee Holdsworth Smiths Trucks 1.11.6515
3. #71 Owen Kelly Team Fujitsu 1.11.7398
4. #27 Cameron McLean Howard Racing 1.11.9621
5. #28 Matthew White Gulf Western 1.12.1470
6. #111 Mark Porter Hydraulink Racing 1.12.1715
7. #65 Marcus Zukanovic Actron Air 1.12.2497
8. #46 Alan Gurr Holden Young Lions 1.12.2573
9. #81 Jose Fernandez Team Fuijstu 1.12.5445
10. #64 Tony D’Alberto Independent Race Cars 1.12.5951
Practice One Top Ten
1. #71 Owen Kelly Team Fujitsu 1.11.7397
2. #27 Cameron McLean Howard Racing 1.11.9814
3. #28 Matthew White Gulf Western 1.12.0973
4. #19 Andrew Jones Team BOC 1.12.3203
5. #72 Lee Holdsworth Smiths Trucks 1.12.4327
6. #111 Mark Porter Hydraulink Racing 1.12.4982
7. #81 Jose Fernandez Team Fujitsu 1.12.5362
8. #68 Alex Yoong Shane Beikoff Racing 1.12.6098
9. #64 Tony D’Alberto Independent Race Cars 1.12.6376
10. #46 Alan Gurr Holden Young Lions 1.12.7004
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